Jenni Rivera's Family Has 'Faith' That Singer Is Still Alive

10:13 PM PST 12/10/2012 by Sophie Schillaci

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Following a plane crash in northern Mexico on Sunday, U.S. officials said that the 43-year-old had died.

The family of Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera is holding on to hope that she is still alive, despite U.S. officials saying that she died in a plane crash Sunday.

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Rivera, 43, was traveling in a small jet that crashed in northern Mexico on Sunday, and though authorities have not announced the recovery of any dead bodies, U.S. officials confirmed that Rivera had died. Rivera's father, Pedro, additionally told Telemundo on Sunday that everyone aboard the plane -- seven individuals in total, including her stylist Jorge Sanchez and attorney Mario Macias -- had perished.

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"In our eyes, we still have faith that our sister will be OK," Rivera's brother Juan told reporters outside the family's Long Beach, Calif., home, Reuters reports.

"We thank God for the life that He has given … my sister," he continued. "For all the triumphs and successes she has had, and we expect that there will be more in the future."

Rivera's other brother, Pedro Jr., mourned the loss of his sister in an interview with E! News late Sunday. "We are feeling devastated," he said. "Life is like that. We live and we die. We may be sad, but when God has the last word for all of us in our last days, it's time to go. And this was the way Jenni had to go."

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At the time of the crash, Rivera was en route to a performance in the city of Toluca, 40 miles southwest of Mexico City, following a concert in Monterrey on Saturday evening.

Rivera served as a judge on The Voice Mexico and was slated to make her film debut in the gritty drama Filly Brown. Co-star Edward James Olmos praised her work in the film, proclaiming that she "could garner an Academy Award for her work." Following news of her death, Spanish-language network mun2 announced that it would air a marathon of the reality show I Love Jenni, of which Rivera was the star.